May 26, 2008

This year was quite special. The Grand Marshall of our parade was a member of our Post, Sol Lipkin, who is a WWII Navy Vet and who is 102 years old. I have written about Sol before. He is slowing down a bit, but he still manages to walk away a winner in our regular penny ante poker game.

After the parade, members of our Post fire the ceremonial volleys while taps is being played, and, I must say, we looked pretty farookinâ€™ good out there firing our 1903 Springfields (unplugged). One of the shooters will be deploying to Iraq next month.

Once the ceremonies were done, we returned to the Post for a veritable feast, which is open to the public. We were joined by the Junior ROTC, a couple Girl Scout and Brownie Troops and Revolutionary War Re-enactors. (They say those clothes are not hot, but Iâ€™m not buying it.)

When we were left pretty much with Post members and spouses, I dragged out the guitar and played with â€œChuck,â€ who is Captain Arthurâ€™s seriously tattooed son-in-law. Turns out that he plays very much like I do, and I have a blast playing with him. (Sol loved it, and managed to do a bit of dancing â€“ at 102).

I had been looking forward to playing with Chuck again. In fact, while in Florida, I idly suggested, â€œYo, Chuck and I could probably go out on the weekends and turn a few bucks.â€

Mrs. Parkway remarked, â€œOh yeah, you could call the act, â€˜Chuck and the Old F**k.’â€ After laughing my ass off, I decided I kinda like the idea. I could wear a tee shirt that says â€œChuck.â€

It was a good day, particularly since, despite the party atmosphers, we all know what Memorial Day is all about.